More about Warré hives at NewGenBees

My Warré Hives, based on the Abbots principles

Glass demonstration hive from the Biobees website

The photos below show the various parts of one of my Warré hives, a very strong colony could fill five boxes but would need to be divided to stop it swarming and create a new colony for me. The boxes are supported by a base and stand, the base has a board under the mesh floor to allow monitoring of the varroa mites without opening the hive. Each of the boxes have eight bars set in a rebate along the top edge, these bars have a bead of wax on the underside to encourage the bees to make their comb there. The top box will have a piece of hessian laid over the bars so that the bees can apply a coating of propolois in the gaps between the bars and therfore regulate the air flow up into the roof as and when they require. The roof has a large vent in the back covered in mesh and is filled with hay which is held in with more hessian. The hay acts as insulation in winter and absorbs any moisture which rises with the warm air and helps stop condensation on the inside of the hive walls.

The Queen Bee releases pheremones which control the behaviour of the bees within the colony. Abbé Warré believed that regularly opening the hive upset the natural balance by releasing these pheremones along with the slightly anti septic atmosphere created from the Propolis in the hive. The bees gather propolis from sap and resins in trees and use it to seal up gaps in the boxes and strengthen the wax comb. At the temperature maintained in the hive (35^oC) it is very sticky and it helps protect the comb from moulds and infections.